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At TEDIndia, Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data — including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper “laptop.”

In an onstage Q&A, Mistry says he’ll open-source the software behind SixthSense, to open its possibilities to all.

Quantifying the economic impact of innovation has turned out to be surprisingly difficult. Bill Gates, astrophysicist Lowell Wood, and Nathan Myhrvold, former chief technology officer at Microsoft and founder of Intellectual Ventures, talk about how innovation is overlooked in economic statistics.

I can contact friends, run my business, manage the school, do research, plan trips, check transportation, do banking, manage health issues, make new friends, show tutorials, conduct meetings … and more.

All this by choosing from an increasing range of new and interesting apps currently being designed and created by thousands of developers who are beavering away all around the world.

Many of these new dimension were added to my original iPhone by buying apps from the store–some for free and others for a few dollars.

For example, I recently turned my iPhone into a highly compact and portable video camera … just by buying an app for $2.50!

Talk about cvs2bvs … these apps are really amazing. And here are the facts about the apps …

Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously.

Cognitive dissonance theory is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology.

Dissonance normally occurs when a person perceives a logical inconsistency among his or her cognitions. This happens when one idea implies the opposite of another.

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The Funny Feeling Inside Your Head …

Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously.

Wikipedia: Cognitive dissonance is a psychological state that describes the uncomfortable feeling between what one holds to be true and what one knows to be true. Cognitive dissonance theory is one of the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology.

Similar to ambivalence, the term cognitive dissonance describes conflicting thoughts or beliefs (cognitions) that occur:

– at the same time, or
– when engaged in behaviors that conflict with one’s beliefs.

In academic literature, the term refers to attempts to reduce the discomfort of conflicting thoughts, by performing actions that are opposite to one’s beliefs.

Example:
Smokers tend to experience cognitive dissonance because it is widely accepted that cigarettes cause lung cancer, yet virtually everyone wants to live a long and healthy life. In terms of the theory, the desire to live a long life is dissonant with the activity of doing something that will most likely shorten one’s life.

The tension produced by these contradictory ideas can be reduced by quitting smoking, denying the evidence of lung cancer, or justifying one’s smoking. For example, a smoker could rationalize his or her behavior by concluding that everyone dies and so cigarettes do not actually change anything. Or a person could believe that smoking keeps one from gaining weight, which would also be unhealthy.